History Heartwarming / Sherlock

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[[caption-width-right:350:The start of one of the most iconic friendships in fiction.]]

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[[caption-width-right:350:''"It is what it is."'']]

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[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[AndTheAdventureContinues The best and wisest men I have ever known. My Baker Street Boys;]] [[BookEnds Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.]]"'']]

* Sherlock, the so-called high functioning sociopath, breaks into a smile when Mrs Hudson opens the door, throws his arms around her in a big hug, and happily accepts her kiss. Later he kisses her on his way back out the door. As Creator/StevenMoffat and Creator/MarkGatiss remark in the commentary, Sherlock doesn't have psychological issues with showing people physical affection, he simply doesn't go around hugging and kissing anyone and everyone. Mrs Hudson is like a mother to him and he hugs and kisses her simply because he adores her and loves to show his affection for her when he's in a good mood. [[note]]This is extra heartwarming when the DVD Commentary reveals that none of Sherlock's hugging or kissing Mrs Hudson was ever scripted- it was simply that Creator/BenedictCumberbatch couldn't stop doing it ''naturally,'' as he's known and loved Una Stubbs since he was a small child.[[/note]]

--> '''John:''' No,she is. Shut up! You are not a puzzle solver, Sherlock. You never have been. You're a drama queen! Now, there is a man in there who is about to die, "the game is on", SOLVE IT!

* In the [[http://www.mangareader.net/sherlock/2 manga]] [[http://www.mangareader.net/sherlock/2/3 adaptation]] of "A Study in Pink", John describes how Sherlock made him feel like a happy man again:

* Sherlock meets up with David, an old flame of Mary's, ostensibly to brief him on his duties as usher. Instead he starts TwerpSweating the guy, calling him out on his "subtle" attempts to get back together with her after the breakup, and warning him to keep his distance from her and John in the future. He's not going to let anything ruin the wedding or John and Mary's married life.

* Despite their 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.]]

* At the beginning of ''A Study in Pink'', Sherlock seems to take himself ''very'' seriously. He's certainly hilarious, frequently, but it's generally snark or social awkwardness, and not him intentionally being funny. At the conclusion of the chase after the cab, John starts laughing at the absurdity of it all and how golden Sherlock's punchline "Welcome to London" was, but Sherlock just looks confused by John's laughter. By the time they get back to the flat, he's giggling and making jokes just to get John to keep laughing as well. Later, in ''A Scandal in Belgravia,'' he's stealing ashtrays and making jokes at Mycroft's expense, for no other reason than to make John laugh. He tries to do it again in ''The Hounds of Baskerville,'' but John doesn't respond to it this time, which helps clue him in that he might actually have to apologise. He doesn't deliberately joke with John often, and he doesn't seem to do it for anyone else's benefit. He genuinely likes to see John happy. Also, it's extremely heartwarming that sometimes he just wants to cheer John up by nicking him an ashtray from Buckingham Palace.

** Doubly heartwarming as Sherlock Holmes is considered, alongside [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]], Literature/JamesBond, [[Series/TheAvengers John Steed]], and Literature/HarryPotter, to be one of Britain's greatest fictional heroes.

* Kirsty Stapleton's message to Sherlock. She's an 8-year-old girl asking Sherlock to find rabbit Bluebell. She's just so precious in the way she writes, asking him if John is a real doctor, telling him that she likes his stories, ending her message with "lots of love"... -->'''theimprobableone:''' ridiculous\\

** This is doubly heartwarming, as Mike thinks high enough of Sherlock to consider him a decent flatmate for an old friend, and he is one of the few people who seem to honestly get along with Sherlock. Though he doesn't consider Mike a "friend", Sherlock still talks to him about very personal problems, such as his troubles to find a flatmate who can put up with his moods and general wackiness, which is something Sherlock usually ''does not do''.

* The fact that Victorian!Holmes, who's modern counterpart usually has a difficult time connecting with and understanding women, sympathises 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] must lose".

*** Also a CMoA for Sherlock. This is a self-identified sociopath- who is also probably a high-functioning autistic from what the writers have indicated- bringing a ENTIRE room to tears of joy through a single speech. It showcases how far Sherlock has come since the very first episode, and how much his friends mean to him at this point.

* And the fact that after Sherlock is arrested and the superintendent comes up and starts insulting Sherlock, John loses it and ''punches the superintendent of Scotland Yard'', earning himself an arrest, even though Sherlock wasn't there to hear the superintendent. Also doubles as a {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}}.

** In a rare moment of social awareness, Sherlock seems to immediately understand that blurting out "gay" was unacceptable and out of line, because when he's called on it, he mumbles, [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "Nothing... um... hey."]] This is the same man who in earlier episodes told John to his face that he was an idiot, crashed John's date and blatantly told Sarah to go home so he and John could pull another all-nighter over the book code. He seems genuinely sorry for what he's just said. Unluckily for him, Molly heard him perfectly the first time, which leads to him launching into his rundown on why he thinks Jim is gay.

** John also admits that Lestrade helped him get Sherlock to the flat, even if he was [[CrowningMomentOfFunny filming the process on his phone]]. We never ''see'' Lestrade during this sequence, but we're reminded that any time Sherlock's in trouble, Lestrade's around to help out, even if it falls well outside his job description.

-->'''John:''' The thing about Mary is that she has completely turned my life around. Changed everything. But, for the record, in the past few years, there have been two people who have done that and the other one is... ''[looks to where Sherlock was sat which is now empty]'' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny a complete dickhead!]]

-->'''John:''' Oh. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Bottom of the Thames.]]

** There's one moment in ''The Reichenbach Fall'' particular, although she's gloating at the time, she reminds John that she had told him Sherlock was a psychopath "the first time we met." There's a few "first meetings" mentioned in ''The Reichenbach Fall''- the first time Sherlock met John, the first time they met Moriarty- that the first time Sally met John scores a mention really is quite oddly heartwarming, considering that Sally hasn't been seen at all since ''The Great Game'' and even then only had a few lines. And the majority of those lines weren't her disdain for Sherlock- they were her suggesting [[CrowningMomentOfFunny hobbies that John might like to take up]] rather than hanging around with Sherlock. Line for line, she really does spend a surprising amount of time not snarking about or to Sherlock, but trying to convince John to protect himself by staying away from him.

'''Sherlock:''' ''[looks up{'' ...Soldiers?\\

** The way Sherlock and John run out of [[TheAdventuresOfSherlockHolmes1939 Rathbone Place]] at the end, [[AndTheAdventureContinues off to another mystery]].

** Followed by the surprised look of ''plain disagreement'' on Sherlock's face when Molly initially tells him she "doesn't count."

* Molly's first speech to Sherlock in the lab, where she earnestly speaks her heart. Especially when this speech comes just after Sherlock has more or less said that Jim's being "naughty" is ''Molly's fault.'' He snidely refers to Jim as Molly's "boyfriend" and downright tells her "for the sake of law and order, Molly, I suggest you forgo all future attempts at a relationship"- as if Molly daring to want a relationship has any connection at all with the kidnapping of two kids. It's quite possibly the cruelest thing he's ever said to her. And she helps him anyway.