Author's Note: Right now, oneshots seem to be doing me more justice than actual stories, and this idea just popped up out of nowhere, and it was begging to be written. Sorry if it doesn't make too much sense, it was written in about an hour and a half! But enjoy anyway!

Actions Over Words

A Ranma 1/2 Fic

"And you're ugly!"

Akane couldn't help the tears that threatened to break through the weak barrier of her resolve. Alone, she sat one the roof of the Tendo household facing the sun as it set in the west. Ignoring the cold fall evening and the sudden urge to go inside where the rest of the family were all eating her sister's delicious meal, she pulled her knees closer to her chest and drew in a deep, shuddering breath as a few tears rolled down her cheek.

Ranma had never called her ugly before. It was always "uncute" or "unsexy." After the first three hundred times, the words had begun to lose all intentional meaning. Just as she called him a stupid jerk repeatedly. Akane had began to take it almost as a sign of affection, a certain understanding between only the two of them. Besides, Akane didn't really aim to be cute or sexy, although the general male population of Furinkin High thought she was. In fact, she only became self-concious about her looks when Ranma came into her life, and it didn't take her too long to get over the "uncute" thing... But being called ugly... it was just the same as saying she wasn't pretty.

Akane knew she had no chance to compete against Ukyo and Shampoo when it came to looks. Hell, even Kodachi wasn't an eyesore. They all had the same beautiful figure, flowing hair, and feminine composure (save Kodachi most of the time), while Akane was stuck with her muscular body, tendency to grow angry, and a cowlick of hair that didn't go far below her chin. Long ago, she concluded that she wasn't even near being Ranma's type.

But that still didn't change the fact that she was deeply in love with him.

"You're an idiot... Ranma..." Akane moved her freezing hands into the fold of her knees to get the feeling back into her fingers. "I try as hard as I can... to be someone special." The tears fell more persistently now. The cold and crying turned her eyes and nose all red. She wanted to go inside, but decided against facing Ranma in her current state. It would be enough to break her.

Eventually though, the wind became too bitter, and the heat from the sun was finally gone. Without much of a choice, Akane proceeded to go in through her bedroom window to change into something warmer than her school uniform and then go to bed. Maybe she would go eat in the morning. Standing up, Akane brushed off small particles of dust and leaves off of her uniform skirt. She gave her eyes one last wipe with the back of her hand and turned around.

She nearly ran headlong into the object of her affections.

"'Scuse me." Without even looking up at Ranma's face, Akane walked casually to her bedroon window, careful not to step on any loose roof-shingles on the way.

The pigtailed boy stood stunned for a second and then realized she was leaving. "Um... Akane?"

"Yeah?" Why did you have to come up here?!

"Well, Kasumi wanted to know if you're hungry, so..." He trailed off, watching as her back muscles tensed under the blue fabric of her school uniform. Could it be anymore awkward?

Obviously not. She turned and smiled softly at him. "No thanks. I've had a tiring day at school. I'm just gonna go to bed."

Ranma grabbed her hand as she was about to leave him again. For a minute he didn't say anything as he glanced down at his Chinese-style shoes kicking around a small pile of rubble. When he looked up though, Akane had the distinct feeling he was going to yell or say something hurtful because his eyebrows had furrowed and his jaw had set just the way it would before a loud argument.

Ranma wasn't the most sensitive guy around, but when he looked into the watery brown eyes of his fiancee and saw the pain and hurt in their depths, he managed to keep his foot out of his mouth. "Are... are you still mad?"

"No!" she responded a little to energetically. She resisted as her finacee spun her around to finally clearly see the tears in her eyes.

"Yes you are."

The tenderness and obvious care in his voice made Akane break down completely into loud and shaky sobs. Without thinking, she latched herself onto the front of Ranma's shirt and let out all the pent up frustration and conflicting emotions she'd held inside for several years into wet pools on her fiancee's chest. She just couldn't stay mad at him.

On the other hand, Ranma didn't really have any clue about what was best to do. He was never good at emotional battles, and he was even worse when a girl happened to cry... especially when it was his fault. So he just decided to stay quiet and let her cry. When he realized the girl wasn't about to let go anytime soon, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. The response he got was her pressing even closer to him.

After a few minutes, Ranma got more comfortable with the idea of having a highly volatile girl wrapped in his arms and he rubbed her back soothingly, with the thought of being sent flying just in the back of his mind. He felt her clench her fists in the front of his silk shirt.

Although he wasn't the most observant person in the world, Ranma knew the "you're ugly" comment he'd made earlier didn't really have much to do with the reason why Akane had spontaneously burst into tears. It was like that one saying... "the straw that broke the camel's back." She'd reached her breaking point, and who could blame her? Two years of hell in a forced engagement was enough to make anyone crack. Especially if their finacee was a jerk...

Finally, the sobs subsided. Ranma proceeded to pull away, realizing that she'd done a fair share of crying. She probably didn't even want to look at him anymore. Her dignity had practically been crushed, and she probably wanted to sleep. However, when he prepared to release her from his grip, he was surprised when she wrapped her arms around him in a continuous hug.

"Can you just... just hold me? Please?" Akane said just aboive a whisper.

Although her actions reminded him somewhat of the time she'd been possessed by that evil doll, holding her was what he did without questions, deciding for once to do something kind for her. He sat the two of them on the cold rooftop, himself leaning against a higher part of the building with her in between his legs so she could lean back against him, which she did rather willingly. Ranma was blushing, and it was obvious. He fiddled with his hands at his sides, not knowing what to do with them and not wanting to be sent into orbit for doing something that his finacee would take a perverted. That was until Akane picked up his hands for him and draped them over her stomach.

"Akane, what are you-?"

But she just turned slightly so that the side of her head and one of her hands were resting over his heart.

The intimate position was not new to Ranma by any means. He'd been molested dozens of times by the busty Amazon, Shampoo. He should have been used to it by now, but it was different when he was actually with a person he had an attraction to. It was then that he realized just how much he wanted to simply hold Akane in his arms. Her breathing had slowed down to a restful pace, and he assumed she'd fallen asleep. Unconciously, he leaned his pigtailed head on top of her and traced small cricles on her hip with his finger.

"Ranma?"

He stopped, incredibly embarrassed. "H-huh?"

"Well... do you really think I'm ugly?"

The question honestly surprised the pigtailed boy. "No! Of course I don't. I, well... think you're cute, Akane. Really cute... pretty even. You know I don't mean most of the things I say."

Akane smiled. "Thanks. I think that's all I really wanted to hear from you."

"And... I also... If I had to get married, it'd be you. You're the only one who hasn't tried to force me into anything." Ranma was blushing even brighter than before, if that was even possible. His mouth had finally decided to behave for once; the momment was perfect without any meddling fathers, any jealous suitors, and any death threats.

It had been an evening of little words, but somehow the feelings of the two over-stressed teenagers had been revealed through a series of uncharacteristic events. Maybe actions really do speak louder than words.

Author's Note: There! Pointless drama and fluff. I have no idea where this plotline came from... it's highly under-developed, but I was in the mood to write something a little off the general genre of Ranma 1/2. Maybe sometime in the future I'll revise this, but until then... Read and Review please!