When not occupied with administrative duties, Faramir spent his time walking through the streets of Osgiliath. Though the city was full of people and activity, Faramir was isolated by the formality of rank. One afternoon he came across a group of men had stopped their work to take a drink of water. Faramir knew them well, for they were men of his former company. One man, Hargond, was telling a story while the others listened and laughed. Faramir was reminded of countless nights when he and these men had sat around campfires deep in the woods and shared similar stories. He knew these men, knew the names of their wives and children. They had shared food, bound each other's wounds and buried friends together.

Faramir approached the group and Hargond stopped his story abruptly. All turned to face the Steward and bowed their heads. None spoke. Faramir asked each one how he was and each replied that all was well. He knew that it was not all true, that each had suffered hardships since the war had ended, but he also knew that they would give no other answer. Captain Faramir they knew; Prince Faramir the Steward of Gondor they were not permitted to know. Custom forbade it and Faramir felt the division acutely.

Though he did not speak of it in his letters to Éowyn, Faramir felt the loss of his brother acutely once he reached Osgiliath, for it was in this city that they had fought together. One evening, as he walked through the city, he came to the bridge that crossed the river. It was in this very place, though over a year earlier, that Boromir and Faramir fought side by side to prevent the forces of Sauron from crossing that bridge. They had been pushed from Ithilien and forced back to the river. But at the river they held, and destroyed the bridge in defense of the Western bank of the city. Though they prevented the enemy from crossing the Anduin, the enemy in turn prevented all save the brothers and two of their men from crossing to the West bank, and safety, as well.

As the sun set in Osgiliath, Faramir almost felt as though he could see his brother in the shadows below as he was a year earlier. For a moment they had forgotten all around them, victory, death and destruction, and felt only relief at finding the other alive. For to lose Boromir, Faramir had thought, would be unbearable. In the absence of Denethor's love, Faramir had looked up to his brother almost as a father. But it was only a few days later that their father called Boromir to travel to Imladris to join the fateful quest that would claim his life. As quickly as it had come, Faramir's vision of his brother faded again into the shadows, and he was alone again.