"Because Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And someday, if we're lucky, he might even be a good one." -Lestrade, Season 1 Episode 1
...
I can tell you the exact moment Sherlock crossed into being a "good man". From the first I met him and during the months and years that followed, I could see how he gradually drew closer to it. Ever lofty and opinionated as he is, though, he would scoff at me to hear that. Defining him in any term that is remotely normal earns his immediate and everlasting scorn.
As much as he might disdain those facts, though I can see by looking back how he grew into a better person. Don't get me wrong; his faults were still there, his arrogance, his dramatics, his penchant for showing off, always being better than everyone else. Those qualities never left him; they made up too big a portion of his character to be done away with. But he expanded as a person.
Cold hearted, capricious, snide, enigmatic, those traits were softened. His heart, which had been kept locked for so long, learned to care, to cherish those he loved. Aloof, above it all, careful to never get involved, his heart moved against him, seeking human companionship, longing to be understood and accepted. Wanting a friend. By letting me be his flat mate, he unconsciously welcomed the chance to become a truly good man.
Few will ever know how good he is; most will only ever see his greatness. To my knowledge, there's only one moment in which he crossed the line into being "good" and that was to save my wife, along with all of England, from the grip of an evil man.
Standing on the tarmac of the runway, the day wan of cheer for departure was upon us, I had a lot to be grateful to Sherlock for.
It hurt that this man who had come to be my friend, who had saved my life as many times as I had saved his, would never be coming back, his crimes to great for repentance. Painful though the parting was, Sherlock handled it with his usual tact, but I could see behind the mask and tell it affected him too.
The plane waited; ready to escort its lone passenger out of country where I would never see him again. As Sherlock boarded, carrying himself with all the dignity and arrogance that made up his personality, every scrap of it still intact, I knew what Sherlock Holmes was. A good man.
/\\/\\
A/N: Just a drabble that came to mind after watching all of the seasons again.
Thanks for reading!
