History Heartwarming / Sherlock

* As soon as Sherlock and John walk into the restaurant, the owner, Angelo, rushes up to shaker Sherlock's hand with a warm smile, and [[HospitalityForHeroes immediately offers him anything he wants, on the house]], for him and ''his friend''. He also brushes off Sherlock's snarking at him and treats him incredibly kindly, as oppose to Lestrade tolerating Sherlock with gritted teeth, Donovan calling him a freak, and [[spoiler:Mycroft]] saying the closest thing to a friend Sherlock is capable of having is an enemy. It also really speaks to how much Sherlock helps people, whether he does it for their sake or not, to have Angelo gushing over him for getting him off a murder charge -- and it's all showcased for John's benefit, with Angelo quickly and proudly explaining to John what Sherlock did for him while Sherlock ignores him.
** Also adorable is when Angelo [[ShipperOnDeck excitedly goes to get a candle]], because even if he has misinterpreted [[MistakenForGay Sherlock and John's relationship]], [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend despite John insisting that he's not Sherlock's date]], he's clearly happy that Sherlock, who has no doubt consistently come to the restaurant alone in the past, ''finally'' has come with another person, and so Angelo wants to make the evening as pleasurable as possible for them.

* Also, John explicitly says that he couldn't care ''less'' about the "stupid phone" and that no phone is worth Mrs Hudson being hurt over. Mrs Hudson herself clearly disagrees when it turns out that [[spoiler:through all of that she managed to smuggle Irene's phone in her bra.]]

** When Sherlock sees Molly [[spoiler:at the morgue]] later, he apologetically tells her she didn't have to [[spoiler:come in to work.]] Despite acting like a total scrooge for most of the Christmas sequence, Sherlock figures that Molly might like to be elsewhere at Christmas. And, then, of course, this remark of his is extremely empathetic and sweet when you remember that despite his cold exterior [[spoiler:he's actually very upset about Irene at the time.]]

* Mycroft doesn't want Sherlock to know that [[spoiler:Irene is actually dead -- even if he ''did'' order her execution -- and asks John to help him sell the lie that Irene's in Witness Protection]]. He doesn't know that [[spoiler:Sherlock's beat him at his own game]] and is concerned about his little brother's emotional health.

* After Sherlock gives him coffee, [[spoiler:unknowingly to him to see if he's poisoning him with hallucinogens]] John continues to drink it, even though it tastes revolting to him. And he goes out of his way to praise it for Sherlock's sake.

* Even though John's plan to charm Louise gets interrupted and she walks out in disgust at his deception, he obviously made a good impression on her overall. When Henry [[spoiler:loses the plot, threatens her with a gun and races off onto the dark moor]], the first person the distressed, crying woman can think to contact isn't the constabulary, it's John Watson.

* [[spoiler: The entire episode is a lot more heartwarming after watching The Final Problem. Sherlock and Henry are incredibly similar, both rewrote their memories to rationalize the death of someone they love to make it easier to cope with. Sherlock obviously doesn’t know this as he’s trying to help Henry, but it’s still there, deep inside, possibly motivating Sherlock to make sure at least one of them gets the help they need.]]

* After [[spoiler:Claudette starts screaming in fear of Sherlock]], Lestrade makes every excuse under the sun for it in defence of his friend.

* Despite their former enmity, [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Anderson]] has spent the past few years trying to find proof that Sherlock is alive, and even trying to to convince Lestrade of the fact.]]

* [[spoiler:One line from John. "Of course I forgive you."]] Sherlock's face really says it all.

* Sherlock [[spoiler:killing Magnussen]], sacrificing his freedom and being sent to certain death, in order to protect John and Mary, fulfilling [[TitleDrop his last vow]] from the previous episode.

* How did Sherlock help [[spoiler:immerse himself in his Victorian mind palace]]? He read the entry on John's blog telling the story of how they first met. This was after he thought he had just said goodbye to his best friend for the last time.
* Mycroft's concern for Sherlock throughout [[spoiler:the entire present-day sequences]]. There's nothing snarky or mean-spirited about it. Their conversation on [[spoiler:the plane]], when Mycroft tells Sherlock that he is always there for him, is a rare moment of genuine concern from a big brother who fears that his little brother is putting himself in danger.

* The scene at [[spoiler:the Reichenbach Falls]] where, after lapsing in and out between [[spoiler:present-day and the 1895 dream-sequences,]] Victorian!Holes and Victorian!Moriarty stand at the cliff side where so many Holmeses and Moriartys have fought in the past. Just as it looks like Victorian!Moriarty is about to throw them both down the slippery slope, Victorian!Watson, instead of being a spectator from a distance, is standing right behind them with a gun raised, beckoning Victorian!Moriarty to step away from his friend and get on his knees.

** John Watson is now officially [[spoiler:the anti-virus program of Sherlock Holmes' brain.]]

* Charlie Welsborough opting to try and surprise his father by coming home from his gap year in Tibet and joining him for his fiftieth birthday. [[spoiler:Sadly, he died from a seizure before he could surprise him, but the fact that he was willing to come home for his father's birthday counts.]]

* The way that [[spoiler:John's hallucination of Mary]] changes throughout the episode shows how he's slowly recovering from deep grief. At the beginning, he argues with her about [[spoiler:whether she's dead or not,]] and in the therapist's office [[spoiler:Mary stands to one side, crying for him.]] But by the end of the episode, she's [[spoiler:standing in 221B, giving sass about how Sherlock has to wear "the hat" in tribute to her, and otherwise being all lightness and fun. Even when John confesses to "cheating" on her, she doesn't judge him, but tells him to move on.]]
** When John tells Mary he [[spoiler:had been talking to another woman and admitting he wanting more besides texting, Mary only just looks at him and quietly says "Well then", before smiling and tearing up just saying one thing: 'Get the hell on with it'. She ''really'' wants him to move on..]]

** More specifically, [[spoiler:John confessing his emotional affair with the girl on the bus to his hallucination of Mary, and achieving catharsis by crying in Sherlock's arms. What's more, Sherlock doesn't think John's crazy. He even says good-bye to "Mary" in a friendly manner when they leave the flat. Given [[MushroomSamba the events of the episode]], Sherlock is perhaps the only person who could understand John's frame of mind.]]
** The [[spoiler:hug]] between Sherlock and John deserves a special mention. [[spoiler:Confronted by his best friend in tears, Sherlock approaches John the same way most people would approach an unexploded bomb...yet one arm goes around his friend, the other cradles his neck, and Sherlock gingerly hugs John as he breaks down. He attempts an "it's okay" platitude, before finally admitting that no, it's not okay: in John's own words, it "is what it is." No condescension, no dodging the topic, no leaving someone else to deal with it. Sherlock might still avoid the whole "social skills" thing when given a choice, but for John, he'll absolutely make an exception.]]
** John also hears [[spoiler:Irene Adler's text noise on Sherlock's phone and deduces she's still alive. He encourages Sherlock to reach out and talk to her more, because he knows from experience [[TheLostLenore there might not be another chance]].]] Although he doesn't quite understand the relationship, and knows that [[spoiler:Irene]] is dangerous, he tells Sherlock to take advantage of the fact that someone cares about him and wants to be with him while he still has the chance.

** And from that noise, he also [[spoiler:deduces it's Sherlock's birthday, as Irene would only have texted if it was a special occasion.]] Then he takes him out for cake.

* At the beginning of the episode, Mycroft's movie is interrupted by a home film of the Holmes family on the beach. Two things stand out from this: one is little Sherlock bear-tackling a younger Mycroft in a hug in the film and the second is that [[spoiler:Sherlock chose this film to begin with.]]
** Mycroft's [[spoiler:reaction to the home movie sells it. First he's confused, but when he sees little Sherlock playing with him, he begins to smile and even show signs of love at seeing his little brother]].

** Just the look on Mycroft's face when instead of shooting either of them, Sherlock [[spoiler:turns the gun on himself]].
* Even after everything that Eurus puts Sherlock through, he still feels compassion for her. He talks her down and comforts her when he finds her in their old home that she destroyed, and the end of the episode shows that he goes to visit her and play the violin together with her.

** [[FreezeFrameBonus Blink and you'll miss it]], but during Mary's voice-over, in one of the scenes of Sherlock and [[spoiler: Eurus]], Mrs. Holmes puts a hand on Mycroft's knee, and he smiles at her. Repeat: ''Mycroft'' gives his mother a ''genuine smile.''
** We also see Sherlock sending a text saying "You know where to find me". While it's not stated, it's definitely implied that he's taking John's advice and seeing [[spoiler:Irene]] again.

* Despite the extremely emotionally-fraught situation Sherlock is in, he is extremely gentle and kind to the girl on the phone. With maybe the exception of [[spoiler:fake!]] Faith Smith, it is the most compassion and kindness we have ever seen from him, even though when he's talking to her he is stretched to his emotional breaking point. There is a good man in there.

* There's a rather subtle but sweet exchange between John and Sherlock in the comments on John's blog after he posts about having [[spoiler:broken up with Sarah]]:
-->'''Sherlock:''' You never told me about [[spoiler:Sarah]].\\

* He writes up his feelings on [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/31december "A Scandal in Belgravia",]] including telling [[spoiler:every single one of his readers that Irene Adler was alive]], but there's a sweet mention that, as he remarked in an earlier blog post, he and Sherlock got Mrs Hudson her own laptop for Christmas so she wouldn't have to go next door and use Mrs Turner's anymore.
** In the same blog post, he mentions that despite originally having New Year's Eve plans, he'd had to cancel them so he could stay home with Sherlock and keep an eye on Mrs Hudson, who'd been hurt that day.

* After "The Reichenbach Fall", John posts just a single line. [[spoiler:He was my best friend and I'll always believe in him.]] This doubles as a tear jerker.
* The "I believe in Sherlock Holmes" movement. The Sherlock fans have been putting "I believe in Sherlock Holmes" and variations thereof everywhere in every way possible from t-shirts to bracelets to signs to fan videos ever since he was [[spoiler:declared a fraud]] in "The Reichenbach Fall".
** The creators gave a ShoutOut to it in "The Empty Hearse", going so far as to have [[spoiler:Anderson]] explicitly say "I believe in Sherlock Holmes" and showing that [[spoiler:Sherlock was vindicated after investigation]].

* [[WordOfGod Mark Gatiss]] has said that the only personal picture that Sherlock keeps in his bedroom is one of [[spoiler:him and Mycroft]].

** On a meta-level, getting to see Holmes and Watson triumph over Moriarty together [[spoiler:at the Reichenbach Fall,]] [[spoiler:after 128 years of canonical stalemate with Moriarty]], can be a crowning moment of both awesome and heartwarming for the fans.

* In a curiously meta way, the very ending. Everything is wrapped up, the reveal is given that what we've just seen was [[spoiler:simply a drug-induced hallucination/mind-palace episode of Sherlock's]], onto the next case. And then the credits music literally slows to a crawl and we arrive back in the 19th Century, with Victorian!Holmes and Victorian!Watson discussing [[spoiler:everything we've seen in the 21st Century as a drug-induced hallucination of Victorian!Holmes's. This gives the idea that the entirety of the modern series is all actually Victorian!Holmes' imaginings.]] To traditionalists and Conan-Doyle purists, it's rather a sweet touch. [[spoiler:The "real" Sherlock Holmes could in fact be the original we all know and love.]]
** Sherlock's "I've always know I was a man out of my time", can also be taken as "Sherlock Holmes is forever."

* The fact that after Sherlock rushes off, John acts like he has every intention of hanging around, at least for a bit. He has only met Sherlock the day before, and has only met Mrs Hudson, who he's now being left alone with. He'd only gone there to ''look'' at the flat. But Sherlock tells him to make himself at home, and he does. Instantly. Sherlock even gives a general "don't wait up for me" before he leaves; he's assuming that John is staying there that night.)

** And then when Molly's fianc&eacute turns up, Sherlock most notably does ''not'' deduce him into the ground, say anything rude, or even point out his obvious resemblance to himself. He just shakes his hand and excuses himself.

* The fact that Victorian!Holmes, who's modern counterpart usually has a difficult time connecting with and understanding women, sympathizes heavily with the with the women in the secret organisation, highlighting their long-present struggles as he gives his exposition speech and telling Victorian!Watson that "this is a war [they i.e. men] must lose".

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