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There was nothing to do, Zelda thought to herself. The TV showed only commercials when she flipped through the channels. She'd already read all the books on her apartment shelves several times over. And there was only so much a girl could do running her fingers through her boyfriend's hair before they started to cramp.
Link lay sprawled out on the couch with her, head in her lap, equally bored out of his skull. It was the first day either of them had off in quite a while, yet there was only boredom draping itself over them like a heavy blanket. They needed to get out of the apartment.
“Beach?” Zelda asked. “It’s a nice summer’s day.”
“Sure. Anything to get out of the house.” Link replied, rolling off the couch and landing on the Gerudo rug with a plomp.
# # #
The towel warmed Link’s back muscles from the heated sand beneath. The young man rested serenely, taking in the sounds of crashing waves, the cries of gulls overhead, and the laughter and yelps of other beachgoers out in the surf. Somewhere off in the distance, someone had a radio tuned to a rock station. Link absently nodded along to the instrumental breakdown before cracking an eye open to glance at Zelda.
She reclined on a lounge chair, soaking up the sun, her pleated strawberry blonde hair hanging loosely over the backrest. Her sky blue eyes were hidden behind dark obsidian glasses. Link was mildly surprised to see no kunai tucked into her bikini.
She must have left it in her bag, he thought, eyeing the denim messenger bag dangling from an armrest. The emblem of the Sheikah stared back at him in white stitching. He wondered briefly when Impa gave her the bag before turning over and rising to his feet.
Zelda’s thigh was soft against his cheek and the heady scent of coconut made his head swim in the best way possible. He felt her fingers running through his hair, occasionally pushing his curtain bangs back. The sun broiled his back and the sand started to sear his knees and shins after a while.
“I’m going to go swim and see what I can find in the tide.” He spoke up as he fished out snorkeling goggles. Zelda gave a lazy thumbs up before turning over to tan her back, the lounge chair folding all the way back. Link smacked Zelda’s backside and darted off toward the water at full speed.
The sea hit Link like fracturing ice as he plunged in via cannonball off a rocky outcrop. Nearby, a shoal of fish darted away from the sudden surge of water displaced by the Hylian. From the stragglers that moved a few inches, he could see that they were Holodrumnian tuna.
They were known to be smaller than their Hyrulean counterparts and Link wondered how they ended up at the reef. Holodrum was pretty far on the other side of the Naydra Sea. He gathered that it must be a migratory season before carrying on through the reef.
The reef was but a small section of the larger Naydra Reef that ran along the coast of Hyrule. It was a lively place this time of summer. Alongside the competing schools of Hyrulean and Holodrumnian tuna, Link could see a colorful array of species.
Moray eels slipped back into their crevasses as he floated by while lightning gobies passed him, ignorant of the giant near them. Snuffling along the sea floor was a nursing shark on the hunt. A poor arrowfish found itself entangled in the undulating tentacles of a sea anemone. It probably attempted to eat the tinglefish that called that particular anemone home.
As he swam with a Great Sea Turtle, a warm sensation crept into his mind. Link knew the familiar feeling: Zelda was speaking with her magic.
Alright, come out of the water. Malon and Saria are here.
Ok, on my way back.
Link rode the turtle back to shore.
At the shore, Link saw Zelda chatting away with two other people. One was a redhead in a bright blue bikini while her green-haired companion was clad in a striped wetsuit of black, gray, white, and purple. Link wasn’t sure whether or not Saria’s hair was dyed. He never bothered to ask.
Catching the towel Zelda tossed his way, Link dried off as he listened in on the conversation.
“Yeah, some guys invited us to a volleyball match a ways down the beach. I need some skill so I don’t lose and go on a date with him. That meathead’s not my type. I remember you played back in college, right?” Malon asked Zelda.
“I did, but it’s been a while since I’ve actually played.”
“I’m sure your muscle memory will kick in,” Saria interjected as she leaned on her surfboard. “You were the MVP who took Castle U to nationals, after all.”
Zelda looked to Link for help. He kept the towel over his head. If he couldn’t see her, she couldn’t see him. The tactic didn’t work as Malon yanked it away, leaving him to arbitrate the dilemma.
“I—uh, well, I—” he stammered sheepishly. “I saw a turtle at the reef!”
Zelda saw through his deflection. “That’s nice, love, but this is the conversation we’re having.” She waved at the duo.
Link groaned. He hated when Zelda got stubborn and set in her argument. Sheik, he often called Zelda’s stubbornness. There was just no way to win against that side, unless she was outmatched and outnumbered. He really didn’t want to make her mad, but their friend needed help and Zelda was their ace in the hole.
Consequences be damned.
“Yeah, you have to use that volleyball skill.” Link finally spoke, much to Zelda's outrage. He held up a hand. “Our friend is cornered and needs a way out. You are that way out, Zel. I’ll take my punishment however you want later, but now we’ve got a smug jerk to humble.”
Zelda sputtered incredulously as her cheeks puffed in frustration. She hated that Link was right, but she’d figure out a punishment for him soon enough. She kept her dark gaze on the young man as she replied, “Fine. Let’s go.”
# # #
The volleyball court was a kilometer down the beach from their spot. Consisting of two weathered wooden poles tethered with a fisherman’s net in what was essentially a sandbox built into the beach, it was a rather pitiful sight to the group.
An even more pitiful sight was the tall meathead who spoke in a loud, boisterous tone to his lackeys. Link instinctively placed an arm around Zelda’s waist, scowling at the braggart and his stupid pompadour. The lunkhead noticed the group and sauntered over to them, paying special attention to Malon.
“Hey there, sweetheart. You come to say yes?”
“Fat chance, Groose. I’ve come to knock your ego down several pegs.” Malon spat.
Groose snorted and eyed the others. He didn’t put too much stock in Malon’s group. Saria was shorter than the rest and didn’t seem very athletic to him in spite of her wetsuit and wave-soaked hair. Zelda, while radiant, wore a hip wrap that looked as if it would limit her mobility. Groose ignored Link entirely. He didn’t register him at all.
Groose walked off, kicking the ball up into his hands and spoke loudly to the parties.
“Alright! Here’s the rules: We play to one full set! The first team to score 25 points wins! That’s it!”
He called out to Malon’s team, noting that they were two players short of the full six. Link called on two Zoras to fill out the roster as setters flanking Saria’s libero role. Link and Malon flanked Zelda as her fellow attackers. Groose stood opposite Zelda on the net. Link kept an eye on the other Kokiri the opposing team had as their libero.
A lifeguard stood at the edge of the left antennae as an impartial referee. At the blow of her whistle, the game commenced.
Groose served, spiking the ball in a spiral spin, only for Zelda to block and the ball bounced off a setter’s clasped hands, allowing for the right-hand attacker to spike the ball into the group’s court. Saria dove to keep the ball in play, digging it towards Link, who bumped it to Zelda for a powerful spike between Attack and Defense.
The whistle assigned the first point to the group. Zelda placed her hip wrap over her face as a gaiter to keep the sun out of her eyes. Sheik had arrived to substitute for Zelda. Her speed in the attack zone stunned both opposition and lifeguard as she bumped digs and spikes alike, scoring the majority of the points in the game.
In the last few rounds, Sheik stared into Groose’s soul with such a fiery intensity that the windbag fumbled his spike and the ball bounced into Saria as she dove and passed the ball back into Sheik’s spike.
The winning spike was an openhanded slam from Sheik, hurling the ball into the ground which sent hot sand splashing into the defense. The group won 27–22.
Groose knelt in the sand, watching slackjawed as Zelda wrapped the fabric back around her hip and high-fived her friends and the Zoras. Malon walked over and looked at him from the net.
“Sorry, Groose. Maybe you can hit on some other girl.” She taunted by sticking her tongue out at him. “Oh, by the way: my friend over there was on the Castle University volleyball team a few years back. Won nationals for them. You never really had a chance, pal.”
With that she walked off, racing to catch up with the others as the Zoras invited them to participate in a barbecue.
# # #
Sunset bathed the beach in a golden-orange light as the western skies turned a deep shade of purple dotted with pink and vermillion clouds. A bright fire crackled by a large outcropping of rock; speared tuna and hot dogs were roasting at the flames' edge.
Link rested his head in Zelda’s lap as the group wound down from the party. A beaten-up radio cranked out soft jazz as the waves lapped in and out with the tide, the occasional small wave furling in on itself further out in the wake.
Zelda ran her fingers through his bangs once more, watching as Malon flirted with one of the setters and Saria talked surfing with the other. She decided that this was a good outing for them and nestled back against the rock as she strummed a thumb against Link’s jawline. A fine day well spent, indeed.