Chibi-Usa's Little Rhapsody of Love

Alone in her room, Chibiusa and Pegasus talk over the Golden Crystal and its power to save Elysion, though he refuses to explain what the crystal really is. She vows to stand by him just as he has stood by her, then takes on her Moon Princess form for a flight at his side, admitting during it that she has fallen in love and asking whether he believes in destiny. He promises that one day he will tell her everything. The following morning, Usagi confesses to Mamoru and the other guardians that she eavesdropped on that conversation, and the group quickly leaps to the conclusion that Chibiusa has a boyfriend, most likely an older schoolmate, a theory Makoto pushes and Rei disputes.

At the Dead Moon Circus, Queen Nehelenia frets that holding Helios means little while the Golden Mirror remains lost, so she presses Zirconia to speed up the search, and Zirconia in turn rousts the sleepy Amazoness Quartet and hands them a fresh target. Meanwhile the guardians take turns interrogating Chibiusa over ice cream. Makoto and Rei bicker their way through vague questions, and when Ami and Minako press her to describe the boy, she calls him white as snow with a long face, an unwitting nod to Pegasus that only deepens their confusion.

Hoping Mamoru can coax out the truth, the girls stake out a fancy restaurant where he dines with Chibiusa, but she catches them listening and storms off in embarrassment. Sulking beside a lake, the guardians notice a pale, long-faced man feeding fish and jump to the conclusion that he is Chibiusa's crush. JunJun then strikes him with a billiard ball, and his Dream Mirror turns out not to be the Golden Mirror. When the guardians scold her for meddling in a first love, a baffled Chibi Moon has no idea what they mean. JunJun calls up the Lemures PakuPaku Dude, which lunges to devour Chibi Moon before Tuxedo Mask rescues her, Pegasus is summoned, and Moon Gorgeous Meditation finishes the monster. With the fight over, Chibiusa finally silences the arguing group, insists they have it all wrong, and keeps her true feelings private, quietly wishing she could someday share the truth about Pegasus.

Written by Megumi Sugihara and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara, the episode debuted in Japan on January 13, 1996, and reached North America on November 7, 2000, as "Rini's Lovely Rhapsody" in the CWi dub. The many recurring shots of fish form a visual pun, since the Japanese word for love voiced in the story sounds identical to koi, the word for carp. This is also the first episode to air in 1996. In the Viz dub, Makoto's guess that Chibiusa loves a senpai, a callback to her own past crush, becomes a plainer reference to an older guy.