Rita Ozzetti

Rita Ozzetti is a ten-year-old orphan who worked as an acrobat for a traveling circus called the Circo De Chocolate until it was closed down.

Early Life
Rita was abandoned at birth at the entrance of the Big Top of the Circo De Chocolate, where she was found by Gino Costa. The circus troupe took her in and named her "Rita Ozzetti", although it's unknown who raised her but she was apparently well cared for and Rita became the circus' acrobat with Gino as her performing partner.

Over the years, Rita developed a crush on Gino and became distraught when she realized he didn't return her feelings, which led her to behave like a grown woman while still being a child and constantly sneaked out of the circus and flirted with boys (and possibly grown men) to get his attention but to no avail. It is implied that the Ringmaster Nuno often demanded Gino to watch over Rita to ensure she wouldn't sneak out. One of the boys Rita flirted with was Massan, who fell in love with her to the point of following the circus wherever it went and did about anything to win her over but she didn't return his affections.

The Chocolate Girl in Love
Rita is first seen waking up Hana "Hatchin" Morenos, who was sleeping on a bench in the park by gently flicking her ear. Seeing Massan hiding behind a tree, Rita called out to him, reminding him they were through. He stepped out from behind the tree and told her that they weren't done unless he said they were and he would never say that. He asked who that kid Rita was with and she, unaware that Hatchin was a girl due to her short hair and boyish clothes, told Massan that it was her boyfriend. Massan was taken aback by this and insulted her "boyfriend" but Rita grabbed Hatchin's arm and ran off with her, with Massan following them closely. Rita dragged Hatchin into an alley and managed to lose Massan. Rita then tried to kiss her "boyfriend" but Hatchin pushed her away and told Rita that she is a girl. Rita then touches Hana's chest to confirm it but she back away and nods so Rita finally backs off. Rita then introduces themselves and Rita takes Hatchin to get something to eat when she hears Hatchin's stomach growling.

After Rita manages to get one of the male customers to pay for Hatchin's meal, Rita and Hana spend the day together and while out Hatchin introduces herself using her real name (Hana), which she hasn't done in awhile. Rita then looks through a viewfinder and talks to Hatchin about a map that Hana had to see the statue of Mary that was supposed to cry blood tears and grant wishes. Rita said that she did not believe in the power of the wishes because "that was for little kids" and she was too old to believe in that. Rita leaves Hatchin later that afternoon at the park bench Rita found her in and goes back to the circus.

Back at the circus, Rita arrives to her tent to find Nuno yelling at Gino Costa for not keeping an eye on Rita. Nuno walks away when he sees Rita glaring at him while Rita yells at Gino about why he didn't look for her when she left and becomes upset when Gino doesn't seem affected by her outburst, causing her to leave again. Rita then goes back to Hatchin as she needed someone to talk with. She reveals to her that she is in love with Gino and that she lives at the circus right across the river from the park as she was abandoned at the circus as a baby, where she was found by Gino.

Rita is practicing her acrobatic act with her partner Gino and she asks him to go faster. She attempts a jump to another rope and misses, falling. Gino catches her, places her on her feet on the ground and asks if she is okay. Rita pushes him away from her and tells him to leave her alone before running off. Hana attempts to get into the circus to see Rita, who is forced to rescue her from several circus members who mistake Hana for a burglar. Hana informs Rita that Gino is seeing someone, which causes Rita to throw Hana out and stormed out of her room.

She later comes across Hana talking to Gino and eavesdropped on their conversation. Gino explained to Hana that he was leaving the circus as he was going to be a father and could have to leave Rita behind, but that he believed she would meet lots of people and would grow up well.

Rita met up with Hana later and told her that she would go with her if she was leaving. Rita left, but came back to Hana with Massan's bike. After losing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Rita pedaled the bike, while Hana stood on the back and they eventually rode to see the statue of Mary but when they got there they found that the statue had been replaced. She asked one of the workers why and he told her that someone had stolen the statue's head. She asked if the new one would cry tears and grant wishes but he didn't answer her. When she pressed him for answers he pushed her to the ground, got in his truck and drove away. Rita got up and ran after the truck. When it had gotten too far away, she dropped to her knees and cried.

Another day and Rita is performing in the circus. She does the routine she'd practiced with Gino earlier perfectly, with Hana there to witness it. When the show ended Rita smiled at Gino, letting him know that there were no hard feelings anymore and Gino smiled back before they both saluted the audience.

After the show, Rita and Hana are outside of the tent when Gino exits with his bags. They watch as he walks over to Natalia Perez and the two embrace and walk away from the circus. Hana looks at Rita with concern, but Rita tells her that she is alright and offers a grin. They share a hug after Hana confesses that she is leaving. However, the next day Rita is helping pick up trash at the Big Top when Hana makes her way back to the circus, asking if she can join them and Rita smiles.

Starting Line Downpour
Early in the episode Rita and Hana, the latter now dressed in hand-me-down clothes from Rita, hang out at night once the circus is closed for the day and Hatchin cooks Vatapá for dinner for the two of them, which Rita enjoys and compliments Hana for her food.

After the circus is closed down at the end of the episode Rita ran up to the beach to check of Hana was okay after she and Michiko washed up there after their fight with Nuno and Michiko Menezes and got mad at Michiko for asking if Massan, whom Michiko had encountered not long before that, was her boyfriend before saying goodbye to Hatchin and reassuring her that they would see each other again.

After that, it is unknown what became of Rita or if she ever saw Hatchin again.

Appearance and Personality
Rita is a 10 year old Afro-Diamandran girl with shoulder-length brown hair styled in cornrows and dark blue eyes. She has a strong fashion sense and despite being only ten she dresses in outfits that are too risqué for her age and behaves like a young woman rather than a child. She often wears a lot of jewelry and is never seen without at least two bracelets and earrings. She also has three piercings in her right ear.

Rita is a strong, kind, confident and very independent girl. Although she is very nice and friendly, she can be very aggressive when upset. She can also be very persuasive since she managed to sweet-talk a man into paying for Hana' lunch at a restaurant and seems to have no problem in talking about things like wearing tampons to someone she had just met. Rita isn't intimidated easily since she wasn't afraid of Nuno and managed to get him to back away from her and Gino just by glaring at him. Although she claimed she was all grown up, Rita was still a naive child since she truly believed she could get a grown man to fall in love with her, a preteen girl, by dressing and acting like a very mature and promiscious woman as well as wishing to a Virgin Mary statue to turn her into a full grown adult as fast as possible to get Gino to stay in the circus despite him having a girlfriend his age and a child on the way.

Gino Costa
Gino and Rita had been close ever since he found the infant Rita abandoned at the circus' Big Top and he eventually became her performing partner. Rita eventually developed a crush on Gino, but he did not reciprocate her feelings since she was a child and he eventually got a girlfriend his age, Natalia Perez. When Rita got angry at him Gino never paid attention to Rita's temper tantrums but he did care about Rita and trusted she could be fine after he left and could grow up to be a good woman. When Rita discovered that he is leaving the circus to be with his pregnant girlfriend, she became depressed, but she eventually got over it and ended on good terms with Gino.

Nuno
Nuno appeared to care about Rita in some way as he chastised Gino for not watching over her and he didn't scold or hit Rita for wandering off after seeing the angry expression on her face and he even allowed her to skip practice to hang out with Hana, although despite this Nuno had no qualms on selling Hana along with the other untalented kids to get rid of her despite her being Rita's friend.

Hana "Hatchin" Morenos
Rita was Hatchin's first friend during her and Michiko's trip. After Hatchin had runaway, Rita saw Hatchin sleeping on a park bench and thought she was a boy. Rita tried to make Hatchin her boyfriend to make Gino Costa jealous and possibly to get Massan to leave her alone until Hatchin reveals that she is actually a girl and the two quickly befriended each other while Hatchin did her best to help Rita overcome the fact that Gino couldn't fall in love with her and that he was leaving the circus. Rita took Hatchin to see one of her shows before the circus left and afterward Hana decided to join the circus too. Rita later went to find Hatchin, after discovering she had almost been sold into slavery to make sure she was okay before she bid Hatchin goodbye and reassured her that they could see each other again, although it is unknown if they did.

Massan
Massan had a huge crush on Rita and followed her around wherever she went. It can be assumed that Massan was one of the boys Rita talked to as an attempt to get Gino's attention since Rita said she was through with Massan. However, Massan developed feelings for her and went as far as to follow the circus when it left his hometown. He followed by bike and camped in the desert, living off canned meat for the chance to see her again but she finds him to be annoying.

Massan's obsession for Rita went to the point where he kept tabs on Gino, his girlfriend, attempted to intimidate Hatchin into staying away from Rita (when he thought she was a boy) and after finding out Hatchin was actually a girl he offered Hatchin a free meal so that she put in a good word about him to Rita but to no avail. Massan seems to think that Rita belongs to him and that he has to "rescue" her.

When Rita was asked by Michiko if Massan was her boyfriend, Rita got angry and made it clear that she found the idea to be "gross".

Trivia

 * At ten years old, Rita already has her period.
 * Rita wore jewelry even when performing, which is unpractical if not dangerous.
 * Rita was apparently unaware that her circus troupe secretly sold children, although this may have started once Gino Costa retired from the circus, or the Ringleaders managed to keep it a secret from the rest of the troupe.
 * Rita was apparently not chosen to be sold since she, unlike the children who were sold, had actual circus talent. However, it's possible that the circus' ringleaders liked her enough to keep her as she was still a baby when she was found and therefore easy to train. This is reinforced by the fact that Rita appeared to be well liked and taken care of (and the fact that babies are just as valuable of not more than older children when it comes to child trafficking).
 * Rita bears similarities to several characters:
 * Rita is similar to Michiko Malandro since both were abandoned at birth, both love fashion and like to dress in risqué outfits, both have been in love with men who don't return their feelings and both become very aggressive when upset.
 * She is also similiar to Hana "Hatchin" Morenos since both were orphaned at birth and taken in by criminals and potential killers, both liked to wander off against their guardians' orders, both can be very mature for their age and both eventually become orphans a second time. However, unlike Hana, Rita showed no signs of being abused in any way.
 * Rita also bears some similarities to LuLu Lima since they both have dark skin, braided brown hair and blue eyes, both were orphans due to being abandoned by one or both of their parents, both grew up in a dangerous envirovment (the favela for Lulu and a criminal circus troupe for Rita) and both love fashion.