Longed, after a period at home, to return (7)
I believe the answer is:
yearned
'longed' is the definition.
('yearn' can be a synonym of 'long')
'a period at home to return' is the wordplay.
'a period' becomes 'year' (year is a kind of period).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'home' becomes 'den' (an animal's home).
'to return' is a reversal indicator.
'den' back-to-front is 'ned'.
'year'+'ned'='YEARNED'
'after' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for yearned that I've seen before include "Pined" , "Longed to be in deanery" , "Desired - longed (for)" , "Felt longing (for something)" , "Did long" .)