So I've actually been working on this one-shot for quite awhile now. Full disclosure this was originally going to be the very first one shot I released, but I got scared. It has a bit of personal things about me that I wasn't sure I wanted to publish. In real life I'm kind of a shy quiet person so writing about myself is kind of hard. Whenever I tried working on this one-shot I always found myself hesitating just because I knew I'd be including some personal details and I was scared to talk about myself.

I have to confess that watching the finale for Amphibia, affected me a lot more than I thought it would. And I don't know why, but after seeing it I was inspired to finish this one-shot and try to get it out there as soon as possible. I think part of the reason is that Amphibia was part of this fic, and because of that I just felt….I don't even know how to describe it, but it was different.

Fair warning, I do talk a bit about music I happen to like, which I know isn't everyone's cup of tea, so if you don't like this one-shot for that reason, then I'm sorry in advance. There are a lot of lyrics from songs in this one-shot. I tried to only include the parts of them that are relevant though I will have a soundtrack listing at the end. Don't feel you have to listen to the songs while reading this story, though I would encourage you to listen to them after on your own time. I will admit part of the reason for me writing this was to….well talk a bit about music I like, but I tried to blend it in with the conversation and make it feel natural, hope I succeeded!

The Lyft Ride

Sasha didn't have to wait long for the Lyft she called to arrive outside her house. The girls piled into the car with Luz sitting in the front. As she got into the front seat she looked into the face of the driver, she could see his eyes, they were the same color as her own eyes but there was no shine in them. The shine had gone out many years before….

"Is this all of you?" he asked.

"Yeah that's all," said Anne.

The Lyft driver looked at the girls and raised his eyebrow, "uh where are you all headed so late?"

"We're on our way to a Scare Dare!" proclaimed Sasha triumphantly.

"You all seem a bit young," said the Lyft Driver, "are you sure you should be going out this late?"

"Don't worry about that," said Sasha, "we're have each other's back, we're BFFs"

"Oh are you now?" asked the Lyft Driver, "how long have you all known each other?"

"Well I've known Anne and Marcy since we were in kindergarten," said Sasha, "the three of us have been through a lot together. As for Luz, we only met her recently but she's cool in her own way."

The Lyft Driver looked over at Luz who was seated next to him. She waved to him.

"Hmmm well I don't suppose you going out to cause trouble are you?" he asked.

"Hey even if we were I thought your job was to just take us to where we want to go," said Sasha.

"Alright, alright," said the Lyft Driver, "if everyone is buckled in then we'll be on our way."

With that the car began to move away from Sasha's house and out into the night, right as they began their trip a new song began to play in the car. Strangely it wasn't in English and if Luz had to guess she could have sworn it was Japanese. It had an incredible beat and melody and even though she didn't understand what was being said, she could feel the song had an incredible energy to it. She looked to the console and saw the display of the song confirming a suspicion she had about it.

"That's from an anime isn't it?" Luz asked.

"Oh yeah, it is," answered the Lyft Driver, "from an older anime that was probably before your time. Ever heard of Outlaw Star?" Luz shook her head.

"Yeah it's not as well known as a lot of others, but I will always remember it," said the Lyft Driver, "that show is what got me into anime."

"Oh really cool!" replied Luz, "the show that got me into anime was the one about the notebook that you can use to kill people with."

"Huh that was a cool one, lot of suspense an intrigue in that one," said the Lyft Driver.

"So tell me about Outlaw Star," asked Luz.

"Oh it's a future space setting anime about the adventures of the Outlaw Star, that's the name of the space ship, and of course it's got a motley crew on board made up of all different types," said the Lyft Driver.

"Sounds cool," said Luz, "were you ever into Dragon Claw Z?"

The Lyft Driver let out a laugh, "you know I watched that first and it almost made me not like anime. But I think that might have been because it was in the days before streaming. If you weren't able to see the episodes in order then you ended up missing a lot. But a lot of my friends watched it and nowadays anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of anime has heard about that one."

"You know sometimes I forget anime has been around for so long," said Luz.

"I mean it was around even before I was born," said the Lyft Driver, "it just didn't become mainstream in America until the 90's."

As he was talking a new song had started up in the car, it had a rhythmic drum intro that caused Anne to begin bopping her head.

"This isn't the type of music I normally listen too, but I think I can jam to this," said Anne from the back seat. The song continued to play, and Anne continued to listen, though at one point the lyrics caught her off guard

"It's always the same it's just a shame that's all!

Turning me on, turning me off, making me feel like I want to much

Living with you is just putting me through it all the time.

Running around staying out all night, taking it all stead of taking one bite

Living with you is just putting me through it all the time."

"Huh that's weird," said Anne out-loud.

"What is?" asked Sasha.

"That song, it's got a cool beat, but I heard the lyrics just now and it sounds….almost sad," said Anne.

"I wouldn't say it's sad," said the Lyft Driver, "but I would say the lyrics are a bit more depressing than the upbeat melody of the song would have you believe. The song is about how someone feels trapped in a very draining relationship, yet they feel as though they have no choice but to remain in it."

"I mean why would you stay in a relationship like that?" asked Sasha, "just move on if it's not working out!"

"Well for some people that's hard," answered the Lyft Driver, "people stay in bad relationships for various reasons. Oftentimes it's because they lack confidence that they could find anyone else who would love them."

"Pssh that sounds so stupid," said Anne, "I can't believe anyone would do that, good song though."

"Thanks," said the Lyft Driver, "I like to think I have good taste in music though I have been told otherwise in the past."

"Do you have more anime songs?" asked Luz.

"I do, though I don't know how many are in this playlist, I've got anime songs and Video Game songs too," he said.

Luz and the Lyft Driver began talking about music they liked, meanwhile in the back Marcy was listening to the new song that had started playing,

"No one is to blame, how's it feel to be a household name?"

Someone's about to lose, and it's playing on the evening news….

Hey! Crumble Star, I guess ya didn't last forever….does it ever?

Forever's never, I guess you really weren't so clever…."

Huh, thought Marcy to herself, that sounds rather sad, I wonder if that song is about a specific person. I suppose it could be about anyone who was in that sort of position. Someone who was a nobody, then got famous and then fell from grace. She decided to ask more about that song.

"Hey uh Mister who plays that song?" asked Marcy.

"Huh, oh a group you probably haven't heard of," answered the Lyft Driver, "they're called Blessid Union of Souls."

"Oh wait I have heard of them," said Marcy, "well at least I've heard of that one song by them. The one that's used in a lot of shipping AMV's"

"Oh yeah," said Luz chiming in, "I know which one you're talking about, wait they have other songs?"

The Lyft Driver rolled his eyes at that statement before responding, "yes they do in fact have other songs. It's unfortunate that some bands become one-hit wonders when they really are talented."

"Oh I know what you mean," said Marcy, "there are a ton of bands I love that no one's ever heard of."

"Yeah me too," said the Lyft Driver, "I've been told before I have terrible taste in music, but hey I like what I like."

"Yeah I know how you feel," said Luz, "not just with music but with other things too. There's a lot of things I like that no one else seems to," she paused before adding, "Hey you aren't by chance a fan of Good Witch Azura?"

"I've heard of that series, though all I know is that it exists," answered the Lyft Driver, "wouldn't say I'm a fan, but honestly I don't read as much as I used to."

"Oh any reason for that?" asked Luz.

"Eh, I'd say time, and also the fact that I'm a bit addicted to modern technology," admitted the Lyft Driver, "I'd rather watch videos than read, even though I have an app with books on it in my phone. I used to love reading when I was younger. When I was 13 I read Don Quixote."

"What really?" said Luz intrigued.

"Yeah it was part of a reading contest my school was having, that book was the largest one they had and as such was worth the most points, so that's why I picked it, though I did end up liking it," replied the Lyft Driver.

"Huh, what did you like about it?" asked Luz.

"Different things, for one, you have to admire Quixote's conviction even if it's presented as insanity, he thinks he's a knight and damn it he sticks to his beliefs of chivalry. He manages to get into a lot of scuffles throughout his journey, but he always fights for what he believes is right. The book also balances between realism and romanticism, I guess that's kind of the point, when we see the world through the people Quixote interacts with vs how he sees the world, it's an interesting contrast. What's also cool is that in order to get Quixote to give up his quest, they have to play by his rules. A man from his hometown, pretends to be a knight, the knight of the white moon, and forces Don Quixote to fight him, with the stipulation that if he looses he has to give up his quest. While he does lose, I feel it's a bit triumphant that the only way to get him stop pretending to be a knight was to well….pretend to be a knight and play his fantasy, so in a way, you could say he won."

"….that's pretty deep," said Luz, "it's set in Spain isn't it?"

"Yeah," began the Lyft Driver, pausing a bit before adding, "el pais donde obtenmenos nustro idioma."

Lua was a bit surprised to hear the Driver speak Spanish, but after looking at him again realized he seemed to be of Latin descent. She paused before adding, "Tambien el pais que nos colonizo."

"Si perro sabes que Espana es un parte de nosotros," replied the Lyft Driver, "have you ever read any works by Federico Garcia Lorca?"

Luz shook her head, the Lyft Driver continued,

"He lived in Spain during a time when the country was slowly becoming fascist, and was very much against them. Unfortuantly because of that he was killed, but I would argue that a lot of his plays and poems are still relevant today, especially to Latinos in America. His struggle against fascism is much like many of the struggles we face."

"I guess I never thought about it like that," said Luz.

"Also he was gay, supposedly even had a passionate relationship with Salvador Dali," added the Lyft Driver, "a gay man trying to find acceptance in a harsh world, a lot of people can still relate to that today, unfortunately."

Luz didn't respond, but did tilt her head as she considered what he had said.

The Lyft Driver continued, "so real quick, getting back to Don Quixote. You know when I was reading the book I had a certain theory, I guess nowadays you'd call it a head-cannon, about Don Quixote. I always thought that there was a certain real life knight that he looked up to, and I'm actually a bit surprised he wasn't ever mentioned in the book. There was famous knight in Spain who managed to earn the respect and admiration of both Moors and Christians and carved out a kingdom of his own. He's often said to embody the true ideals of chivalry."

"Oh who was it?" asked Luz.

"Hey we're here!" declared Sasha as the car arrived at their destination, "come on ya'll let's go!" Sasha had already opened the car door.

"Oh well guess it's time for the scare dare then," said Luz as she got out of the car, "thanks for the ride, nice talking to you!"

"See you," replied the Lyft Driver, once the girls were all out of his car he took off into the night.

It had turned out to be a slow night for the Lyft Driver, he hadn't gotten another request in awhile, and was sitting in his car listening to music

"That's the girl I've been telling you about, she's been raining in my head like a pouring storm.

Her smile is like the sun, and my whole world revolves around her!

Like a soul in the wind I've been lost since the day I found her, what I'd give to be everything she needs like air around her

Got my arms open wide, wish she new they belong around her…"

Suddenly his phone alerted him to a new Lyft request, as he looked at the location though he thought it looked familiar.

Huh, isn't that where I dropped those girls off, he thought, I guess they're done with whatever they were doing.

With that he started his car and drove to the location.

As he arrived he saw that it was indeed the same girls from before, though the blonde one looked as though she had seen a ghost. As soon as he pulled up she quickly got in the car.

"Are you okay?" asked the Lyft Driver.

"What!? Yeah I'm fine," answered Sasha, "Just lets get going."

"Uh let's wait until all your friends are here first," answered the Lyft Driver, just as he said this Luz opened the front door and sat down. She had an excited expression on her face.

"I won the Scare Dare!" she yelled in triumph, "Oh hey it's you again!"

"Oh….uh, cool I guess?" replied the Lyft Driver, "not sure what exactly that means but congrats!"

"Yeah, yeah that's all well and good but we'd like to go home now," said Sasha in a bossy voice from the backseat.

"Okay, give me a sec, is everyone buckled in?" asked the Lyft Driver. The girls all said yes, and he took off back to Sasha's house.

"Wow I never thought I'd see the day when Sasha would have to put her name into the Book of Losers!" exclaimed Marcy.

"I'm as shocked as you are," said Anne, "but I guess it had to happen eventually. See Mar-Mar, now we won't be the only ones in the book anymore." Anne put her arm around Marcy as the two cheered at the prospect of no longer being the only ones in the Book of Losers. The two looked back at Sasha and could see she was visibly distressed.

"Hey Sash, you okay there?" asked Marcy

"Huh, what?" answered Sasha not really paying attention, "yeah I'm fine," quickly brushing off Marcy's question.

"Are you sure?" asked Anne, "you seem a little-"

"What?" asked Sasha now getting angry, "I seem a little what?"

"Nothing," said Anne deciding to back off, leading to an awkward silence in the car. Sasha was deep in thought trying to piece together what had happened in the abandoned house.

How could I lose the Scare Dare? thought Sasha, why did that voice freak me out so much? What's going on?

"Whoo-hoo I feel like celebrating!" said Luz, "hey uh do you have any Mana songs on your playlist?"

The Lyft Driver smiled before making an adjustment on his phone, "I think I know one that would be perfect for now."

With that a new song began playing, one that started with a shout in Spanish, "echale vampiro!"

"No way! Yes I love this song! Turn it up!" said Luz in excitement. The Lyft Driver obliged and began singing along with the song.

"No me importa lo que piena las gente de mi

Que triago el pelo del alguna manera

Porque me gustar traerlo asi

Oue por que escucho ese tipo de musica

Si es la que me gustar oir"

Luz and the Lyft Driver continued to sing along with the song, both enjoying themselves.

Before long they had arrived back at Sasha's house. As it turned out, the Lyft Driver had more music that Luz happened to like. He and Luz were in the middle of singing another one when they arrived.

"You guys go on," said Luz, "I want to finish this song." The other girls obliged and exited the car leaving Luz and the Lyft Driver to continue singing

"Pintare estrellas rosas

Habare con mariposas

Quiero ver flores crecer,

Con mares de hielo

Ya nunca jamas tener miedo!"

With that the song ended, and Luz and the Lyft Driver let out a yell of delight.

"Wow that was fun! I love that song!" exclaimed Luz.

"Always nice to meet someone who likes that song," said the Lyft Driver, "she's such an underrated artist, but her songs are so awesome."

"It sucks to hear a song by a genuinely talented artist only to discover that they aren't nearly as popular as they should be," said Luz.

"Unfortunately that's how it goes sometimes," answered the Lyft Driver, "you have your small indie bands, then you have your mainstream ones. It really comes down to luck more than people would like to admit, at least that's how I feel."

"Oh why do you feel that?" asked Luz.

"….I mean, I didn't aspire to be a Lyft Driver when I was younger, there were other things I wanted to do with my life, but it didn't quite work out," his face fell as he talked, "maybe I like to say that it's luck just so I don't feel so bad for failing, but hey enough about me. How did you first hear about Mana?"

"My parents are huge fans of them," said Luz.

"Oh cool, yeah I got a few musical tastes from my parents too," said the Lyft Driver.

"We used to listen to them all the time," said Luz, "I remember hearing "Me Vale" for the first time and just loving that song. I didn't even fully understand all the lyrics at the time, but the melody was amazing! My dad…."

Luz hesitated as she mentioned her father before continuing, "my dad was a huge fan of them, that was one of his favorite songs. He and my mom actually met at a Mana concert…."

They Lyft Driver caught the hesitation in Luz's voice when she talked about her dad. He noticed the change in Luz's voice and face when she spoke about how her parents met.

"Hey….you okay?" he asked.

"What, yeah I'm fine," answered Luz, her face telling a different story.

The Lyft Driver paused before responding, "listen Luz, I've been around the block a few times, I know from personal experience that bottling up your emotions isn't good. Latinos have a bad habit of saying "everything is fine" when it really isn't and that often leads to bigger problems down the road. My parents were raised to just "suck it up" and they passed that onto me, I'd like to think I'm doing better, but breaking old habits is hard. I hope that if something is bothering you that you'll talk about it with someone you trust."

Luz looked back into the Lyft Driver's face, "yeah okay, thanks. It's something personal….and it happened long ago, but thanks for saying that." With that Luz opened the door and prepared to exit the car.

"Hey Luz," called the Lyft Driver, "I hope in the future you'll look back on this sleepover you're having with your friends and still have fond memories of it. Hope the four of you can remain friends."

"I hope so too, thanks for the ride! Have a goodnight!" said Luz as she exited the car and walked back towards Sasha's house. Anne came out to meet her.

"Oh hey there you are," she said, "I was just making sure you were okay. Hey is everything alright?" Anne having noticed Luz's face.

Luz took a second before responding, "listening to music in the car it brought up memories of something, I haven't told you or the others about. Someday maybe I will, but right now I don't want to think about it….I just want to have fun tonight."

"Okay, come on Sasha's gonna write her name in the book of losers, you can't miss that, it will likely never happen again," answered Anne offering Luz her hand, to lead her inside. Luz took Anne's hand and for a second felt something when she did….With that the two went back into the house.

As the Lyft Driver watched Luz leave he thought about the conversation they had just had.

Good kid, he thought, she kind of reminds me a bit of me at that age….ah to be young again.

As he was thinking this a new song had started up on his phone, one that always brought up painful memories, yet one he still enjoyed listening too.

"Call me crazy, call me a fool

But I believe that dreams come true

Cause I found myself kissing you that night

While I gazed at you asleep

Dressed up in my ripped up jeans

I relieved that memory tonight

That was the past, we didn't last

And somehow I know it was my fault

I lost my chance for your hand,

Now I could just, kick myself!"

The Lyft Driver let out a sigh as the first verse ended and he said aloud, "to be young again….to be able to fix the mistakes of the past."

With that he drove off into the night.

Songs used in this one-shot

Outlaw Star Opening Theme

"That's All" by Genesis

"Humble Star" by Blessid Union of Souls

"That's the Girl I've Been Telling You About" by Blessid Union of Souls

"Me Vale" by Mana

"Sobrenatural" by Alejandra Alberti

"Could Have Been with You" by Blessid Union of Souls