History Heartwarming / LawandOrderSpecialVictimsUnit

* A very subtle one amongst the TearJerker that is "Heartfelt Passages," the episode where Mike is killed. After rushing him to the emergency room, Olivia and Chief Dodds are approached by the attending doctor, who asks if they're the family. Olivia responds with, "I'm not, he is," while Dodds responds with an immediate, "yes, we are." Despite the crap he sometimes gives Benson and SVU as their boss, he considers them to be family to himself and his son. It makes her comforting him when Mike dies all the more poignant.]]

** From the same episode, Munch posting Amaro's $500,000 bail with the money he has saved up from salaries and two pensions.
*** Heck, just seeing the two of them embrace before that is enough to give you the warm fuzzies.

* The episode "Fashionable Crimes" has at least two:

*** In the season 22 premiere, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the photo Carisi took of [[FamilyOfChoice Rollins and Jesse]] is now on his desk at the DA's office. It's also the [[ShipTease only photo]] on his desk.

* In "Babes", after a girl's mother is taken to jail for assault, and her brother for murdering the father of her child (he thought she was raped; she wasn't), she begins crying, because she thinks she's going to be taken to foster care, and that her family is lost forever. The grandfather of her child then takes her in, despite his son being murdered by her brother, saying there's been too much grief and suffering already. It gave this troper chills, though my description doesn't do it justice.
** It helped that the same man (played by Michael Badalucco from ''Series/ThePractice'') [[ShamingTheMob stood up to his neighbors]], who were about two steps away from kicking down the door of the girl's apartment to get at the mother. He doesn't necessarily disagree that the mother has done some very bad things (she apparently bullied another teenager into committing suicide), but he just doesn't want to see ''anyone'' else get hurt.
*** Some more credit to the grandfather for having a tough life, a dead schizophrenic son who died horribly and wouldn't come home and a wife who left them believing the ailment to be both 'too much' and 'fake'. He had no reason to be that kind - but he did it anyway. Considering the running subplot of the Christian chastity group that included the actual murderer of the pregnant girl mentioned below and repeated references to what "God would want you to do," and it was a nicely subtle way to show what a godly person ''really'' would do.
** It should finally be mentioned that he doesn't do any of this out of avowed godliness. He doesn't quote scripture or speak from a position of moral righteousness. He does it all out of pure compassion and with a sense of quiet dignity. It is just beautiful and heartwarming to watch. As the first troper said, the description doesn't do it justice.

* The end of "Denial" has a Fin moment when he gives the victim of the week [[spoiler: a framed picture of a forensic reconstruction of her long dead baby sister, whose face she has been forgetting unless she was high,]] and she HUGS him in thanks.

* The ending of "Dolls". It has to be seen. For context, Fin spends the whole episode bonding with and helping a woman, Violet, who left her daughter with a neighbor while she went to rehab, only to come back to find out said neighbor had died and her daughter was missing. An unidentified girl (nicknamed "Cherish Doe") has been discovered dead, and Violet is understandably terrified that it's her daughter. [[spoiler:It's not but Cherish ''was'' killed by the same man that kidnapped Violet's daughter. However, the team manages to track the girl down, and Fin finds her in the killer's hideout, traumatized and assaulted, but alive. He carries her out, cradling her like a baby, and gives her to Violet, who's shedding TearsOfJoy.]]

* The end of the episode "911" (which itself is probably the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome CMOA]] of the series). ''[[TearJerker Good lord]]''. To elaborate, after an absolutely grueling and suspenseful build up, and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Liv's badass beatdown of the perp]], the detectives are in a race against time to rescue a little girl who was ''buried alive'' in an abandoned lot. Until the literal last minute, the show keeps us guessing as to whether the girl will be found alive or if it would've all been in vain [[spoiler: (It wasn't)]]. Olivia's frantic digging leads her to [[spoiler: find a trash bag, and what seems to be a DownerEnding - however, this trash bag was full of clothes. She keeps digging again, and finally finds the bag that the girl is in. And the girl is alive. She coughs and says Olivia's name. The expressions on the face of the little girl and Olivia are indescribable.]]

* The second half of the episode "Paternity" comes to mind. Even if you [[DieForOurShip absolutely hate Elliott being with his wife, Kathy, instead of Olivia]], this episode's end is rather sweet and shows what kind of a woman Benson is. As she is taking Kathy to an obstetrician's appointment for Stabler, [[spoiler: the two of them are struck by a drunk driver. Uninjured and able to break out of her side window (as it was a passenger side impact), Benson helps to extract Kathy from the car, delivers her baby and stabilizes her condition.]] After seeing that both [[spoiler: his wife and son]] made it out okay, Stabler surprises his partner with a tight BearHug and tearfully thanks her.

*** Some more credit to the grandfather for having a tough life, a dead schizophrenic son who died horribly and wouldn't come home and a wife who left them believing the ailment to be both 'too much' and 'fake'. He had no reason to be that kind - but he did it anyway. Considering the running subplot of the Christian chastity group [[spoiler: that included the actual murderer of the pregnant girl mentioned below]] and repeated references to what "God would want you to do," and it was a nicely subtle way to show what a godly person ''really'' would do.

* One of the last scenes of "Stranger," [[spoiler:when the poor girl is finally reunited with her mother after six long years of being kept as a sex slave by her father]].

* The episode "Liberties" involves a situation where a defendant in a stalking case is revealed to be the long-lost (and supposedly dead) son of the judge presiding over the case. At the very end, after [[spoiler:being arrested for killing the defendant's "father", actually his kidnapper]], he meets with the defendant and tells him who he really is. The scene between them is heartbreaking, but all the more beautiful for it.

* In "Savior", the genuine joy and excitement from the victim, Gladys, over the prospect of having a child, her determination to turn over a new leaf and be a good mom, and her singing a lullaby to her baby in the hospital [[spoiler: when she's born prematurely]]. Which only makes [[spoiler:Gladys leaving Olivia in charge of the child [[ForYourOwnGood for the baby's own good]] even more heartbreaking]].

* In "Behave", Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Vicki, a woman raped four times in the last fifteen years by the same person — who has been stalking her across the country. The first scene of the episode has her being discovered, barely conscious, by a street-preacher who initially assumes she's drunk -- upon realising that she's hurt, he immediately drops his sermon and approaches her with gentle, honest concern.

* In "Theatre Tricks," it turns out that among all the pervs in the poor victim's life, the evildoer was the [[spoiler: roommate.]] Benson comments as she leaves that you'd like to think [[spoiler:women]] would look after one another. Rollins agrees, then unexpectedly calls after her to get home safe.

--->'''Munch:''' [[SoProudOfYou You know, your dad's very proud of you. He says it all the time.]]
--->'''Ken:''' He does?
--->'''Munch:''' Yeah. Good night, kid. Good luck.

--->'''Rollins:''' Have a nice night, Fin.
--->'''Fin: ''' Where you going?
--->'''Rollins:''' Home.
--->'''Teresa:''' Like hell you are. Your family's in Georgia, right?
--->'''Fin:''' You better sit your ass down and have some food, 'fore I have to pay for not inviting you in the first place.
--->'''Teresa:''' Got that right. Come on in.

* Munch's [[spoiler: retirement]] party in "Wonderland Story" alternates between this and funny. There's a lot of heartfelt moments mixed in with teasing.

* The season 15 finale and conclusion of "Spring Awakening", when Liv [[spoiler:becomes a mother to Noah. You can see how thrilled she is when the judge grants her custody.]]
** From the same episode, Munch [[spoiler: posting Amaro's $500,000 bail with the money he has saved up from salaries and two pensions.]]

* In "Padre Sandungeuro", Barba privately offers Amaro a way out of testifying against his own father, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness remarkable]] given Barba's normally ruthless drive to win his cases. Barba adds the rare personal admission that [[spoiler:that his own father was similar to Amaro's and that he knows what it's like to have to face down someone like that]]. Given that Amaro and Barba don't always have the warmest relationship, it's a really nice moment to show they share some similarities.

* In "Transgender Bridge", the perp, Darius, is a 15 year old boy who accidentally shoved a trans girl, Avery, off a bridge. Unlike his buddies who were egging him on, Darius genuinely feels ''terrible'' for what he did, and is wracked with guilt. He gives some papers to Fin, asking to see that Avery reads them. It's a beautiful comic he drew for Avery, apologizing for what he did, saying he'd give anything to change it, and hoping that one day Avery can find it in her heart to forgive him. The comic ends on an image of Avery and Darius holding hands. Judging by Avery's tearful smile, she ''did'' have it in her to forgive him. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, she dies before she gets a chance to tell him so.]]

-->'''Carisi:''' I guess I knew for sure when she... when she was giving birth to Jesse. You know, there were complications, doctors rushing in, and I looked at her, she was... She was vulnerable. She was... She was so strong, you know, the way she fought. Yeah, that was, that was it for me.

** All the previous moments between Benson and Tucker in the season are made more heartwarming when it's revealed that [[spoiler:the two have been dating for a while. At the end of the episode, when the two are in a bar together, Benson takes Tucker's hand and kisses his fingers, and it's absolutely adorable!]]

* A very subtle one amongst the TearJerker that is "Heartfelt Passages," the episode where [[spoiler:Mike is killed. After rushing him to the emergency room, Olivia and Chief Dodds are approached by the attending doctor, who asks if they're the family. Olivia responds with, "I'm not, he is," while Dodds responds with an immediate, "yes, we are." Despite the crap he sometimes gives Benson and SVU as their boss, he considers them to be family to himself and his son. It makes her comforting him when Mike dies all the more poignant.]]

** Dodds' scene with Mike in the ICU is heartwarming as well. Up until this point, every scene with the two of them was either work-related or Chief Dodds trying to manage Mike's career, but after Mike is hurt, all that drops away and for the first time, we see him just being a father, and it's clear how much he loves his son underneath it all. Although it only makes [[spoiler:Mike's death and the Chief's reaction]] that much more wrenching.

* Benson and Chief Dodds reconciling in "The Newsroom". Their relationship has been strained since the season premiere when Dodds accused Benson of getting [[spoiler:Mike]] killed, but when a suspect implies the same thing, Dodds immediately cuts the interview short, and then, once they're alone, tells Benson he doesn't blame her and never did and apologizes for taking his grief out on her. Benson, knowing what he was going through when he made the comment, forgives him instantly. The end of the episode shows the two of them talking over a case in Benson's office -- it took most of a year, but they've finally recovered the tentative friendship they had started to build before everything happened.

* The ending of "Dolls". It has to be seen. For context, Fin spends the whole episode bonding with and helping a woman, Violet, who left her daughter with a neighbor while she went to rehab, only to come back to find out said neighbor had died and her daughter was missing. An unidentified girl (nicknamed "Cherish Doe") has been discovered dead, and Violet is understandably terrified that it's her daughter. [[spoiler:It's not, but Cherish ''was'' killed by the same man that kidnapped Violet's daughter. However, the team manages to track the girl down, and Fin finds her in the killer's hideout, traumatized and assaulted, but alive. He carries her out, cradling her like a baby, and gives her to Violet, who's shedding TearsOfJoy.]]
** Just Fin's bond with Violet that whole episode. He's the first person to truly believe Violet when she says she's clean, and recognizes that she only left to help her daughter and get clean. Fin spends the whole time fighting tooth and nail to help her.

* The end of the episode "911" (which itself is probably the [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome CMOA]] of the series). ''[[TearJerker Good lord]]''. To elaborate, after an absolutely grueling and suspenseful build up, and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Liv's badass beatdown of the perp]], the detectives are in a race against time to rescue a little girl who was ''buried alive'' in an abandoned lot. Until the the literal last minute, the show keeps us guessing as to whether the girl will be found alive or if it would've all been in vain [[spoiler: (It wasn't)]]. Olivia's frantic digging leads her to [[spoiler: find a trash bag, and what seems to be a DownerEnding - however, this trash bag was full of clothes. She keeps digging again, and finally finds the bag that the girl is in. And the girl is alive. She coughs, and says Olivia's name. The expressions on the face of the little girl and Olivia are indescribable.]]

** It should finally be mentioned that he doesn't do any of this out of avowed godliness. He doesn't quote scripture, or speak from a position of moral righteousness. He does it all out of pure compassion and with a sense of quiet dignity. It is just beautiful and heartwarming to watch. As the first troper said, the description doesn't do it justice.

* In "Padre Sandungeuro" , Barba privately offers Amaro a way out of testifying against his own father, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness remarkable]] given Barba's normally ruthless drive to win his cases. Barba adds the rare personal admission that [[spoiler:that his own father was similar to Amaro's and that he knows what it's like to have to face down someone like that]]. Given that Amaro and Barba don't always have the warmest relationship, it's a really nice moment to show they share some similarities.

* In the season 22 finale, after six seasons of WillTheyorWontThey and their growth since Carisi’s season 16 debut, Rollins and Carisi finally share a kiss at Fin’s wedding. What makes it especially sweet is that it happens after Carisi reads the speech he wrote for Fin and Phoebe that he never got to use and after his date stood him up that evening. As one fan pointed out, you can see the moment as he reads it where Rollins realizes she’s in love with him. [[Main/{{Squee}} The fan reaction was joyful to say the least]].

* The second half of the episode "Paternity" comes to mind. Even if you [[DieForOurShip absolutely hate Elliott being with his wife, Kathy, instead of Olivia]], this episode's end is rather sweet and shows what kind of a woman Benson is. As she is taking Kathy to an obstetrician's appointment for Stabler, [[spoiler: the two of them are struck by a drunk driver. Uninjured and able to break out of her side window (as it was a passenger side impact), Benson helps to extract Kathy from the car, delivers her baby and stabilizes her condition.]] After seeing that both [[spoiler: his wife and son]] made it out okay, Stabler surprises his partner with [[TheGlomp a tight bear hug]] and tearfully thanks her.

* Regardless of how you feel about [[Creator/MikeTyson his actor]] being on the show in the first place, it's hard not to smile at Reggie Rhodes [[TheGlomp hugging Olivia and Bayard]] at the end of "Monster's Legacy" when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]] and a transfer to a different prison (alongside the possibility of a retrial in the future), after [[RapeAsBackstory learning of everything]] that lead up to him murdering his last abuser.

* In "Manhunt", Munch and Fin are tracking down a serial killer. After they catch him, Munch goes to visit the one that got away and tells her, "You can turn off your lights tonight."

-->'''Barba''': Where will you be at 85?"\\

* In "Transgender Bridge", the perp, Darius, is a 15 year old boy who accidentally shoved a trans girl, Avery, off a bridge. Unlike his buddies who were egging him on, Darius genuinely feels ''terrible'' for what he did, and is wracked with guilt. He gives some papers to Fin, asking to see that Avery reads them. It's a beautiful comic he drew for Avery, apologizing for what he did, saying he'd give anything to change it, and hoping that one day Avery can find it in her heart to forgive him. The comic ends on an image of Avery and Darius holding hands. Judging by Avery's tearful smile, she ''did'' have it in her forgive him. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, she dies before she gets a chance to tell him so.]]

** Fin happily tells Olivia that he has a dinner date with his son and his husband; Ken's fiance did survive being the victim of a hate crime and the two were able to marry.

* In "Pathological", Barba not-so-subtly forces a mistrial to prevent an abused girl from being sent to prison, and he gets chewed out for the misconduct by the judge afterwards. Barba tells Olivia that he "deserved it", to which she responds with "whether you deserved it or not, I have absolute faith in your humanity"

* At the beginning of "Send in the Clowns", the squad throws Fin a surprise birthday party, and Ken and Alejandro visit along with their adopted son Jaden. Fin takes the opportunity to dote on his grandson to his coworkers, and it's obvious that he's completely delighted.

--->'''Ken:''' Yeah. Good night, kid. Good luck.

** Cragen stands out in particular, both for sharing his own story to show Rollins they're NotSoDifferent and for making the decision to use his position to help her the way his own superior officer did for him.

* In "Padre Sandungeuro" , Barba privately offers Amaro a way out of testifying against his own father, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness remarkable]] given Barba's normally ruthless drive to win his cases. Barba adds the rare personal admission that [[spoiler:that his own father was similar to Amaro's and that he knows what it's like to have to face down someone like that]]. Given that Amaro and Barba don't always have the warmest relationship, it's a really nice NotSoDifferent moment.

** It's worth mentioning that Ken and Alejandro meet up with Munch to discuss it over dinner at a nice restaurant. Just seeing them enjoying themselves in that sort of setting is heartwarming in itself. To top it off, Ken and Munch part ways with this wonderful dialogue:

** Also from the same episode is the scene towards the end of Fin's family inviting Rollins to join their Christmas dinner. They know her relatives are in Georgia, so she would be spending Christmas alone otherwise.

* Regardless of how you feel about [[Creator/MikeTyson his actor]] being on the show in the first place, it's hard not to smile at Reggie Rhodes [[TheGlomp hugging Olivia and Bayard]] at the end of "Monster's Legacy" when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]] and a transfer to a different prison (alongside the possibility of a retrial in the future), after [[RapeAsBackstory learning of everything]] that lead up to the him murdering his last abuser.

* Regardless of how you feel about [[Creator/MikeTyson his actor]] being on the show in the first place, it's hard not to smile at Reggie Rhodes [[TheGlomp hugging Olivia and Bayard]] at the end of the episode when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]] and a transfer to a different prison (alongside the possibility of a retrial in the future), after [[RapeAsBackstory learning of everything]] that lead up to the felon murdering his last abuser in "Monster's Legacy".

* Regardless of how you feel about [[Creator/MikeTyson his actor]] being on the show in the first place, it's hard not to smile at Reggie Rhodes [[TheGlomp hugging Olivia and Bayard]] at the end of the episode when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]] and a transfer to a different prison, alongside the possibility of a retrial in the future, after [[RapeAsBackstory learning of everything]] that lead up to the felon murdering his last abuser in "Monster's Legacy".

* After [[RapeAsBackstory finding out everything]] that lead up to felon [[Creator/MikeTyson Reggie Rhodes]] murdering his last abuser in "Monster's Legacy", and the lengths to which he was railroaded during his trial, it's hard not to smile at him [[TheGlomp hugging Olivia and Bayard]] at the end of the episode when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]] and a transfer to a different prison, alongside the possibility of a retrial in the future.

--->'''Fin:''' Where you going?

* After [[RapeAsBackstory finding out everything]] that lead up to felon [[Creator/MikeTyson Reggie Rhodes]] murdering his last abuser in "Monster's Legacy", and the lengths to which he was railroaded during his trial, it's hard not to smile at him [[TheGlomp hugging Olivia and Bayard]] at the end of the episode when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]]and a transfer to a different prison, alongside the possibility of a retrial in the future.

* After [[RapeAsBackstory finding out everything]] that lead up to felon [[Creator/MikeTyson Reggie Rhodes]] murdering his last abuser in "Monster's Legacy", and the lengths to which he was railroaded during his trial, it's hard not to smile at him hugging Olivia and Bayard at the end of the episode when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]] and a transfer to a different prison, alongside the possibility of a retrial in the future.

* After [[RapeAsBackstory finding out everything]] that lead up to felon [[Creator/MikeTyson Reggie Rhodes]] murdering his last abuser in "Monster's Legacy", and the lengths to which he was railroaded during his trial, it's hard not to smile at him hugging Olivia and Bayard at the end of the episode when he finds out they got him a stay of execution[[note]]just ''two days'' before his was scheduled[[/note]] alongside a possible retrial in the future.