Longed for the period to end differently (7)
I believe the answer is:
yearned
'longed for' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'period to end differently' is the wordplay.
'period' becomes 'year' (year is a kind of period).
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'differently' indicates anagramming the letters.
'end' anagrammed gives 'ned'.
'year'+'ned'='YEARNED'
'the' is the link.
(Other definitions for yearned that I've seen before include "Did long" , "Longed (for something)" , "Craved" , "Deanery (anag)" , "Pined" .)