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Lia Cruz

Lia Vida Cruz was the daughter of Ezra Cruz and Nina Cruz and the younger half-sister of Raffie Cruz. Raised in White Plains within the extended CRATB family, she belonged to the younger cohort of The Band Kids. At thirteen, Lia made her public singing debut beside Ezra in a performance of “Mi Vida” at his July 2056 Madison Square Garden birthday celebration.

Early Life and Background

Lia was born at sunrise on July 6, 2043. She grew up in Ezra and Nina’s bilingual Spanish-English household in White Plains and was surrounded by music through Ezra’s work and the family’s relationships with CRATB. Her first word was ‘’luz’‘, the Spanish word for light.

Lia’s middle name, ‘’Vida’‘, meant life in Spanish. Within her family, the name became connected to Ezra’s survival and long-term recovery.

Cultural Identity and Heritage

Lia was Afro-Latina and Puerto Rican. Spanish and English were both part of her home life, and her Puerto Rican heritage was reinforced through family language, food, music, and celebrations.

Music and Public Life

Ezra wrote “Mi Vida” on the night Lia was born and kept it as a private song for his daughter. In July 2056, Lia joined him at Madison Square Garden during his fiftieth-birthday celebration and performed the song publicly for the first time. The performance became Lia’s public singing debut and received widespread social-media and music-press attention.

Lia also created soundscapes and experimented with music alongside Ellie Liu, a close friend from the Band Kids despite the eight-year difference in their ages.

Family and Core Relationships

Ezra Cruz

Main article: Ezra Cruz and Lia Cruz

Ezra sang to Lia in Spanish, protected her privacy as she grew up around public attention, and shared “Mi Vida” with her throughout her childhood. Their 2056 performance brought a private father-daughter song into Ezra’s public birthday celebration.

Nina Cruz

Main article: Nina Cruz and Lia Cruz

Nina raised Lia within the family’s bilingual household and shared responsibility with Ezra for protecting her privacy and choices.

Raffie Cruz

Main article: Raffie Cruz and Lia Cruz

Raffie was eight years older than Lia. They remained connected through their shared family and musical environment despite having different mothers and growing up at different developmental stages.

Friends and Chosen Family

Lia grew up among CRATB’s children and younger relatives as part of the Band Kids. The adult band members were treated as tíos within the family’s chosen-family structure. Lia’s closest documented friendship in that group was with Ellie Liu, with whom she collaborated on music despite their age difference.

Jace Makani was another older member of the wider chosen-family network. Their relationship was nonromantic.

Characters Supporting Characters Living Characters Black Characters Latinx Characters Puerto Rican Characters Afro-Latino Characters Cruz Family