Became aware Al is in, again, the last initial draft (8)
I believe the answer is:
realised
'became aware' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'al is in again the last initial draft' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'again' becomes 're' (prefix meaning 'again').
'last' says to take the final letters.
'initial' suggests taking the first letters.
The last letter of 'the' is 'e'.
The first letter of 'draft' is 'd'.
'al'+'is'='alis'
're'+'e'='ree'
'alis' placed into 'ree' is 'realise'.
'realise'+'d'='REALISED'
(Other definitions for realised that I've seen before include "Came to be aware" , "Came to know" , "Sidereal (anag)" , "made ready" , "Achieved; red aisle (anag.)" .)