After a while, there was a knock at Lisa's bedroom door. "Um, I guess this is it," Ty said, as they rose, walked into her bedroom, and opened the door.
Maria and Diego were standing there. "Would you please both come to the dining room," Maria asked, as she and Diego turned and headed downstairs. Ty and Lisa followed, and they all seated themselves at the dining room table.
"I apologize," said Ty. "I didn't intend to break the rules, and especially never intended to harm Lisa!"
Diego said, "Thank you, Ty. We accept your apology, but for the reasons I stated before, I still am going to have to insist that there be some consequences. Now, just as I know I cannot actually enforce the rules, and depend on your own integrity for that, I know I also must depend on your integrity for the consequences. Can I have your word?"
Ty was about to reply in the affirmative, when Maria said, "Diego, dear, please don't make him agree to something before he knows what it is he's agreeing to."
"You're right," Diego said. "I'm getting ahead of myself.
"Maria and I discussed this. Ty, because you and Lisa prefer not to tell us the details of what happened to Lisa, we have to treat it as a serious breach of judgement on your part, even though Lisa says that you did something she requested, and neither of you anticipated any harm from it. The fact that you immediately went to great lengths to solve the problem is a mitigating factor.
"Because we don't know what you did, we can't directly evaluate how much harm you caused. The fact that, in order to solve the problem, you had to create a supercomputer and space station in Jupiter orbit does suggest that the harm, and thus the degree of negligence and lapse of judgement was quite extreme.
"Now, due to that extremity of negligence, my natural inclination is to say that you and Lisa cannot see each other again. However, I know I couldn't enforce that, and it would be counterproductive for me to try. The extenuating factors, on the other hand, as well as the fact that you voluntarily reported that you had violated the rules, and took full responsibility, argues for much lighter consequences. Maria even suggested that perhap there could be none at all, but I believe that's too far in the other direction. Maria and I discussed a 'grounding' period.
"What Maria and I have compromised on is one week. For that duration, you are not to see each other, talk to each other by phone, by app, or by any other means. If you see each other at school, you will not maintain contact beyond exchange of basic pleasantries."
Diego had been looking at Ty, but now he turned his gaze to Lisa. "Will BOTH of you to agree to this?"
Ty immediately replied "Yes, Diego, I agree."
Lisa looked angrily at Ty. "How can you so easily agree to that? To leave me alone for a week? Don't you love me?"
"Lisa," Ty said. "You know I love you! It's not easy. It's one of the hardest things I've done. But it's necessary. This will seem like the longest week that I've ever endured, but somehow I'll get through it, and so will you."
"You don't have to just accept this," Lisa said. "Diego can't keep us apart if we want to be together."
"Listen to yourself, Lisa," Ty urged. "I don't think anything in creation could force me to do this, if I weren't agreeing to it voluntarily. It is _because_ I love you that I'm doing it. But don't you think you're hurting Diego by trying to convince me to not accept the consequences? Has Diego ever done anything to hurt you, or justify your refusing to agree to this?"
Lisa looked down. "No, you're right." She looked up, face sad, and turned to her father. "I will accept the consequences."
"Thank you both," Diego said."I know this will be a difficult time for both of you. You have Maria to thank for convincing me that it shouldn't be longer.
"As we get older, time seems to pass more quickly. It is easy for us, or at least for me, to forget how long a week seemed when I was young, since it passes so quickly now.
Diego turned back to Ty. "Thank you for supporting me on this. If there's nothing more you need to discuss with us, please go back to your bedroom, and close the portal door between your bedrooms. We expect that door to remain closed for the week. Is that understood?"
"Yes," Ty answered. They all stood. Lisa hugged Ty, and he said, "Don't worry! It's only a week. We'll be back together soon." He slipped from her arms, and headed up the stairs.
Lisa glared at Diego. "I'm angry with you," she said.
"I can see that," Diego says. "I don't like it. I wish you understood."
"What's to understand?" Lisa argued. "Mom suggested no consequences. What would have been wrong with that? Ty and I have already learned our lesson. Ty fixed everything already!"
Maria said, "Ty didn't fix everything, honey. Even Ty's power can't fix some things. One of those things is trust. Yes, I suggested that maybe we didn't need to impose consequences. But your father and I compromised. I know you can make it through a week. The purpose of this isn't to be mean to you. It's to make both you and Ty reflect on things. On the rules, why we have them, and why we don't break them.
"You were quick to jump to Ty's defense," Maria said, "trying to take the blame, saying that what happened was your fault. That's admirable, and we're proud of you. But the rule is that Ty doesn't harm Lisa, and the responsibility for that is Ty's, no matter what you may have asked him to do. So he's going to think about that, but if you still think you bear some of the responsibility, then perhaps you need to reflect on your responsibility to Ty. We didn't make a rule for that, but wouldn't you agree that it's not right for you to ask Ty to do anything that would break the rules?"
"But Mom," Lisa said, crying. "I didn't know that what I asked for would be a problem. Neither of us did! It's so unfair!"
Diego said, "This is actually the point, honey. As adults, we have to think about our actions, and their consequences. Sometimes we don't think about that enough. And sometimes we try, but overlook consequences. But the consequences are still there. As your mother said, we aren't doing this to be mean or vindictive. We want both you and Ty to learn from this."
Lisa looked at Diego, wiping a tear from her cheek. "OK, Dad. Mom. I'm going to my room now."
"OK, honey," Maria said. "Please don't think too badly of either of us. You know we only want what's best for you."
Lisa walked away, up the stairs to her bedroom.
Diego said to Maria, "I didn't expect it to be, but that might have been the most difficult thing I've ever done. I thought if there was any trouble, it would be with Ty, and there'd be nothing I could do about it. I didn't expect rebellion from Lisa! She's always been a good girl!"
Maria said, "She still is. And you handled that well. I think it will all turn out fine." She hugged Diego, and kissed him.