As the darkness enveloped him, the Saiyan heard a voice. "Roman… Roman! Wake up you big lug! You can't just sleep all day! We're gonna be late!"
Immediately, waves of nostalgia hit him stronger than he ever thought possible.
"R-Root? Is… is it really you? No, no, no, you're too good to be in hell…"
"Hell? What in the world are you on about? Must've been some dream you were having, huh?"
Finally, Roman opened his eyes, squinting from the unexpected brightness of the morning. When he could see clearly, what he saw left him speechless. There he was, Root, his best friend, with his messy black hair that reached down to his waist, his incredibly thin frame that somehow housed a surprising amount of strength, and that cheerful smile that Roman could never forget.
"You alright man?" Root playfully punched Roman's massive shoulder. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Roman didn't respond, he just looked around with a confused look on his face, taking in his surroundings. Large blue mushrooms the size of trees, neon green grass that covered the rolling hills and the occasional brightly colored amphibian that scuttled around. This was Malla, his home before all of it began.
"What… this can't be real. Hey, uh, Root, what year is it?"
"Did you hit your head or something? It's Age 589." Root leaned in closer, stroking his chin in mock inspection. "Hm… it does seem a little bigger than normal. Or maybe it doesn't? Your head's already abnormally huge, just like the rest of you."
"589…" Roman thought to himself, "One year before I became an assistant to the South King Kai. That was over three hundred years ago. Was I really given a second chance?"
Roman rolled his shoulders, getting the morning stiffness out of his joints but it was just then that he realized how heavy his body felt, he was weak, extremely weak, especially compared to how he used to be during his time as the Champion of the Gods. Yet another reason to believe time had been rewound.
"I don't know what's going on, or how I'm back here, but it's not like I can do anything about it." Roman grunted softly, his eyes staring off into the distance, deep in thought. "I'll just enjoy this extra time while I have it."
After he came to this conclusion, Roman finally snapped back to reality and looked into Root's eyes, really looked into them, and his emotions, which used to be buried deep inside of him, crashed over the reincarnated saiyan like a tidal wave. He felt that familiar sting behind his eyes as his body instinctively fought back tears, but tears welled up in his eyes regardless. Roman pulled his best friend into a tight embrace, his large, muscular body engulfing the little saiyan. Roman had lost count of the years since Root's death, but now, since time had been reset, here he was again, alive and well.
"Help… can't… breathe…" Root said, his voice exaggeratedly strained. "You alright big man? You're acting strange."
"Y-yeah, sorry about that, I don't know what came over me." Roman scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, blinking away his watery eyes.
"Eh, don't worry about it, a hug every now and then is nice. Anyways we should really get going! We're late!"
Roman cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Late? For what?"
"The tournament, silly! The winner gets to meet the god of this planet, and the top two get entered into the next phase so they have a shot at becoming a Divine Assistant! Remember?"